This is the eighth time the company has been recognised on this annual ranking, and notes it is one of only two health and beauty players to make the list this year, alongside Kao Corporation.
“Culture is the foundation of a high performing, innovative and sustainable company,” said Jean-Paul Agon, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of L’Oréal. “I am proud that ethics is the key pillar of our culture and leadership, requiring our teams throughout the world to always include ethics in the decisions they make”.
“Receiving this recognition from Ethisphere for the 8th time is a source of pride for everyone at L’Oréal. Ethics is the new decision-making framework and we are convinced that a strong culture of integrity is an essential component for long-term success,” said Emmanuel Lulin, Senior Vice-President and Chief Ethics Officer.
What is Ethisphere’s ranking?
The World's Most Ethical Company assessment is based upon the Ethisphere Institute’s Ethics Quotient® (EQ) framework which offers a quantitative way to assess a company’s performance in an objective, consistent and standardized way, according to the body.
The information collected provides a comprehensive sampling of definitive criteria of core competencies, rather than all aspects of corporate governance, risk, sustainability, compliance and ethics.
Scores are generated in five key categories:
- ethics and compliance program (35%),
- corporate citizenship and responsibility (20%)
- culture of ethics (20%)
- governance (15%)
- leadership, innovation and reputation (10%).
Shifting demand for ethical profiles
Speaking on the launch of this year’s rankings, Timothy Erblich, CEO of Ethisphere, confirmed the now well-established trend that sees consumers increasingly demanding an ethical profile from the brands they buy.
“Over the last eleven years we have seen the shift in societal expectations, constant redefinition of laws and regulations and the geo-political climate. We have also seen how companies honored as the World’s Most Ethical respond to these challenges,” he said.
"They invest in their local communities around the world, embrace strategies of diversity and inclusion, and focus on long term-ism as a sustainable business advantage.”